Safety device for vaults, safes, and the like



INVENTOR ATTORNEY c. BARTELS ET AL cs FOR VAULTS sAas; AND was mm Filed FebQjz. 1924' BEST AVAILABLE. cow

l terior to the interior of the structure.

BEST AVAILABLE COPY Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

UNI-TED STATES 1,614,944 PATENT orrics.

cAaL BaRrELsnNnonAYroN GoEIiEL, or H'AMIL'roN, o'md'assrsnons ro THE MOSLER SAFE COMPANY, or HAMILTON, oIIId A CORPORATION 01' NEW YORK.

s'AFE'rY'Dnv'IcE F63 VA'UL'IS, ser es, AND THE LIKE.

Abpiic'ati'on i file'd'February 2, 1924. Serial" No. 690,124.

This invention relates to-safety devices for vaults, safesand the like and more particularly to means operable romthe interior of the structure for admitting air to a person locked inside'of the structure.

At the present day, man'y'persons, principally bankers,are much concerned about being 'waylaid by burglars and forced into a safe or vault and havingthe door closed and locked upon them, in which case they are subjected to the danger of bein suffocated due to the lack of meansfor zillowingair to enterthe-structure when it is locked.

The principal object of our invention is to provide 'a device-which is adapted to be associated with a vault, safe or similar structure, and which is operable from the inside of the structure to open an airpassage way from the exterior to the interior of the structure without'requiring the structure 'to be unlocked and opened.-

A further object of our invention is top'rovide means of the character described which are not operable from the'exterior of the structure.

Other objects of our invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In order that a clear'erunderstanding of our invention may be had, attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application and illustrating one possible embodiment of our in vention.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical perspective view of a portion of the interior of a vault showing our invention associated therewith; Fig. 2 is a sec-- tional view through one of the safe walls where the safety device is located, and is taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the same portion of the structure. and is takelr on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Similarreference characters refer to S1111- ilar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The safety device consistsprimarily of an air passageway through'one of the enclosing walls of the structure and a lug removably filling the passageway, the plug being removable from the 'passageway by manual manipulation from the interior of the structure to open an air passageway from the axplug-is-not removable from the exterior of i wall 6 and is attached to the vestibule plate 7 by means oftwo screws 10 which preferably extend through suitable steel ferrules 11 which space the block 9 from'the wall 7. The screws extend through suitable holes provided therefor in the block 9 and their threaded ends 12 are engaged in suitably threaded holes 13 provided therefor inthe plate 7. The block 9 has an aperture extending-from one end to the other and the bolts 10 are offset from this aperture. This aperture'is contoured to' receive a plug in the form of a rod 14 which toward its rear end has anenlarged portion or boss 15. The rear end of the plug extends beyond the wall 5, and on this end of the plug there is rotatably mounted a hand wheel 16,01- the like, which has a hub 17 encircling the plug 14 and provided at its inner end 18 with exterior threads adapted to engage threads 19 provided therefor in the inner end of the block 9. The extreme inner end of the plug 9 has threads 20 adapted to rcceive a nut 21, whereby the hand wheel is held on the plug 14. The hand wheel hu 17 enclosing the plug 14 extends through a suitable perforation 22 in the rear wall 5 and the; outer end of the plug 14 extends through a suitable perforation in the outer wall 6. This end of the plug 14 may be tapped, so that one of the regular rosettes 23'used on the vault may be attached to the end of the plug 14 to conceal the location of the'safety device on the exterior of the vault, and to render it diflicult to note its existence and location from the outside of the vestibule. The enlarged portion 15 of the plug 14 is abutted on the front by an annular shoulder 24 on the block 9, and is abutted at the rear by the hub 17 of the hand wheel 16. This is the normal assemhl of the safety device. hen it is desired for any reason to establish communication with the outside of the vault from the inside, as when the vault. is closed and locked and such communication cannot be established by opening a door, the hand wheel 16 is grasped and rotated until its hub 17 is released from the threads 19 of the block 9. This rotation preferably rotates the plug 14, so that it will release the rosette 23 which will then fall off the structure. As the handie 16 draws inwardly it draws the plug 14 with it. and when the hub has become disengaged from the block 9, the plug 14 may he pulled rearwardly out of the block 9, thus leaving an open passageway through the vault wall which serves to admit air to a person within the vault and to make it possible for such person to establish vocal communication with others on the outside of the structure.

lVhen in normal position the plug 14 is prevented from being driven inwardly by the hub 17 which is screw threaded to'the block 9, and the plug 14 cannot-be pulled outwardly by reason of its enlarged portion 15 being seated behind the shoulders 24 of the block 9. The rosette 23 conceals the location of the plug 14 on the exterior of the structure. The walls 5 and 6 and the bolts 10 prevent displacement of block 9.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and as many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that. all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What we claim is 1. The combination with a vault wall, of a block secured in said wall and having a safety'aperture theret-hrough, a plug removably fitting in saidaperture, and means threadedly engaging said block for releas ably confining the plug in the aperture.

2. The combination with a vault wall, of a block secured in said wall and having a safety aperture therethrough, a plug removably fitting in said aperture, and a re taining member engaging said plug and threadedly engaging said block for confining the plug in the aperture against rearward removal therefrom.

3. The combination with a vault wall, of a block secured in said wall and having a safety aperture therethrough. a. plug removably fitting in said aperture, and means threadedly engaging said block for releasably confining the plug in the aperture, an abutment in the aperture, and said plug having a forwardly directed shoulder disposable against said abutment, whereby for ward removal of said plug from said aper ture is prevented.

4. The combination with a. vault wall, of a block secured in said wall and having a safety aperture therethrough, a plug rcmovably fitting in said aperture, and a retaining member engaging said plug and threadedly engaging said block for contining the plug in the aperture against rearward removal there-from, said block having an abutment in the aperture, and said plug having a forwardly directed shoulder disposable against said abutment, whereby forward removal of said plug from said aperture is prevented.

The combination with a vault wall of a block mounted therein, said block having an aperture extending from one end to the other thereof, a plug removably mounted in said aperture, a grip member accessible from the inner side of the vault wall, and a hub associated with the grip member and in threaded engagement with said block.

6. The combination with a vault wall of a block mounted therein, said block having .an aperture extending from one end to the other thereof, a plug removably mounted in said aperture, a grip member accessible from the inner side of the vault wall, a hub asso ciated with the grip member and in threaded engagement with said block, and screws penetrating said block and in threaded engagement with the said vault wall.

7. The combination with a vault wall of a block mounted therein, said block having an aperture extending from one end to the other thereof, a plug removably mounted in said aperture, a grip member accessible from the inner side of the vault wall, a hub associated with the grip member and in thread ed engagement with said block, and a rosette exposed on the outer side of said wall and detachably secured to the outer end of said plug, whereby the location of said plug is concealed on the outside of said wall.

8. The combination with a vault wall, of a block mounted therein and extending from one side to the other thereof, said block having an aperture extending from one end to the other thereof, a plug removably mounted in said aperture, a grip member having a hub rotatably mounted on the inner end of said plug and in threaded engagement with threads on said block, an abutment in the aperture in the block, and an abutment on the inner end of said plug inwardly of the hub.

This specification signed this 30th day of January, 1924.

CARL BARTELS. CLAYTON J. GOEBEL. 

